Databook
by Feline.Inferno
Summary: The Akatsuki is the closest thing Konoha Gakuen has to A-list celebrities. Naturally, their personal lives are public interest number one, which makes them great blog material.
1. Tamagoyaki

**Author's Note: Hello and welcome to my humble fanfiction! I appreciate the time you've taken to click on it, and I hope you enjoy! Also, I really appreciate reviews, especially constructive criticism. On another note, the cover's illustrations and design were both done by me. Chapters up until 9 are written, but not edited, so it shouldn't be too long before the next update. I've been having difficulty with words dissappearing after I save in the doc manager, so let me know if anything looks funny.  
**

**Disclaimer: I claim no ownership to Naruto.  
**

**Disclaimers...AGAIN: High school AU**

* * *

"Akihana? Are you okay?" Sakura had invited us out to meet at the local cafe. I only attended for the free wireless internet. I was staring down at my laptop, with an expression of horror and shock.

"Yeah, you don't look so good." I looked up from my screen, Ino also seemed concerned. Tenten was too involved with her food, while Hinata was nervously twiddling her fingers, likely thinking of Naruto.

"This is not okay. I am not okay." I scanned the traffic stats on my screen again. "Fifteen. I've had fifteen hits on my blog this week, and I'm guessing half of them were from you guys!" I flicked my head towards Ino, and she looked away, giggling with guilt. "What am I going to do?" I slumped in my chair and threw my head back, staring into the clear sky.

"You could try writing more makeup reviews, you only have a few of those. Girls love makeup." Sakura suggested as she thumbed through her textbook. I groaned. All that make up will give me a bad case of contact dermatitis. "Or more study tips." Sakura looked up at me, hopeful, "I know exams are still far away, but study tips are always useful."

"No, that's a dumb idea. Food is where it's at." Tenten interrupted, mouth full of cookies. "Everyone eats food, so it'll apply to everyone. Widen your demographic!" I grunted. What the hell can _I_ say about food? I hardly even cook for my self. The situation was looking more and more hopeless.

"Oh, how about making your school uniform more stylish!" Ino chimed in. I raised an eyebrow and turned my head to look at her.

"Come on? This?" I lifted the edge of my navy blue pleated skirt. "You don't get any more stylish than this." I smirked and straightened up. "Hinata?" I heard a small gasp, like she was startled. "Do you have any ideas?"

"Sorry, I don't." She said in a near whisper. Lovely.

"Seriously, I need to kick it up a notch." I pressed my palms into my closed eyes until I saw splashes of color, trying to think of an idea.

"Don't worry Aki, I'm sure you'll think of something." Sakura patted my shoulder and I straightened out.

"Whatever, there's no use whining about it now, what with all these cookies and tea." I pushed my laptop aside and started eating. "Sakura, how are you doing on your math assignment?" Crumbs spilled gracelessly from my mouth.

"Kakashi-sensei just keeps piling on the work. I'm done with extra credit, it's so not worth it."

"Yeah, says the egghead." Tenten snorted.

"I am not an egghead." She turned back to her notes and scrawled a few more things down. "Besides, all of this extra work is going to get me into a great medical school."

"We have all of this year, and all of next year before college, you can take a break." Tenten said.

"Yeah, Forehead, live a little. When's the last time we had a girl's night anyway?" I could almost see the vein in Sakura's forehead pop. Ino giggled at her reaction.

"Oh yeah, Ino pig!" Here we go again...

The five of us finished our food, Tenten, Sakura, and Hinata, going off in one direction toward their houses, and Ino and I toward ours. I've had a long enough day, and I was ready to go home. The first few weeks after summer vacation always seem to drag on.

"Hey." I punched Ino's arm lightly, "You better not be late tomorrow morning."

"I swear, I won't be. Promise." She winked at me.

* * *

"Great, now we're gonna be late." I was leaning up against the concrete pillar waiting for the train to come by. "Dammit, Ino!" I shouted.

"Did I hear my name!" I looked over my shoulder and saw Ino walking towards me, a huge grin on her face. It's about time.

"You almost missed the train. What about that promise, huh?"

"Well, I can't go to school without doing my hair, what if Sasuke notices me?" She fussed with her ponytail and winked while sticking out her tongue.

"Yeah, okay sure." I laughed.

"A girl can dream can't she?" I smirked and shook my head. After a few minutes the train pulled up and the two of us just barely managed to squeeze in before the rush hour hoard came up behind us. We took seats all the way in the back. I stared out the window at the passing scenery as the train left the station, thinking more about my blog.

"You think of anything interesting for my blog?" I looked over at Ino.

"Not really. I can let you borrow some of my makeup to review, or we could do some hair tutorials."

"That's boring though, I need something...fresh." I thought about it for a minute. "Something that the girls, or guys, whoever, really want to know."

"You could write a gossip column?" She shrugged.

"That's a bad idea, you remember how the school newspaper went." She shivered at the thought. "Besides, I'm not exactly in the center of the gossip mill."

"Yeah, it doesn't help that you're so plain either, you know?"

"Excuse me?" I knew she meant well, but sometimes it came out the wrong way.

"Don't take it the wrong way, you're just a flower that hasn't bloomed yet. Have you thought about changing your hair?"

"What's wrong with my hair?" She pinched at my hair and started examining the ends.

"I mean, it's great, but don't you think you'd look pretty with long hair?" She pulled a chunk of my hair straight. "You could bleach it or something, I mean blondes always have more fun!" She let go of my hair and it curled back inward towards my chin with the rest.

"I like my hair the way it is."

"Okay, fine, whatever, your eyes are pretty though." She smiled.

"What a consolation." I laughed and pushed her a bit. I wouldn't admit it, but I was proud of my amber colored eyes.

"No really, it's a good thing." We sat in silence for a bit before she changed the topic. "You think Sakura got her extra credit done?"

"Probably, I wouldn't be surprised if she stayed up all night for it."

"Yeah, you got a point." We chatted idly for the rest of the ride and then got off at our stop. We walked out of the train station and started up the hill towards the school. We reached the front gate where a swarm of girls was forming, like always. Every morning, around the time that Ino and I arrived, a crowd of girls would show up and stand there, waiting.

"I hate having to walk through them every morning. What the hell is the big deal anyway?" I gently shoved aside a first year student and tried to walk through the gates.

"You mean you _don't_ know what the big deal is? The Akatsuki-"

"No, I know who they are, I just don't think they're that big of a deal. Their name is stupid too." I spat.

"Oh come on, you have to think at least one of them is cute." Ino teased me.

"Yeah, I'm totally all set on that." To be honest, I never really paid much attention to them, what with my face buried in my laptop. I laughed and pulled her by the wrist toward the main entrance. As we walked through the door, I heard the girls start cheering. "Come on, I don't want to be caught in that." We walked up to our classroom on the second floor. Sakura, Hinata and Tenten were already inside.

"So, how was the ride here?" Sakura looked at us.

"It wasn't too bad, I wish the train left earlier so I could bypass all the fan girls though." I responded.

"Tell me about it, they're practically glued there. I hate pushing through them." Tenten said. I looked out of the windows and saw the tail end of group of girls chasing after someone.

"Well, it's not an issue for you, just leave earlier. You walk, don't you?" I asked her.

"I don't feel like waking up that early, plus, I'd miss breakfast." She frowned slightly at the thought of missing out on food.

"Yeah, we wouldn't want that happening." I muttered. Sakura turned to me.

"So, did you and Ino come up with any ideas?"

"Zilch." I shrugged. "Maybe I should just give up." I sat down in my desk and pulled out my work for the first class. Honestly over summer vacation I had noticed my numbers dwindling, but I was in denial and didn't do too much to prevent it.

"What! Don't do that!" Sakura raised her voice. "You'll get it, I know you will, plus, all of us like reading your blog."

"Thanks, but it's not much consolation." I used to get hundreds of hits a month before the end of the first trimester. Everyone seems to have forgotten about it. The warning bell rang and we all settled into our seats. I day dreamed about possibilities for my blog until it was lunch time.

Ah lunch, my only refuge.

Sakura spoke to me from the doorway of the classroom, "Hey Aki, do you want to eat on the roof with us? The weather is nice, we might as well take advantage of it before it starts to get colder." I tapped the power button on my phone, turning off the screen and sliding it into the side pocket of my school bag. She was looking at me, lunch bag in hand.

"Are _they _up there?" My voice was hostile. I'd rather let the good weather go to waste than to be near them. Something about them just rubbed me raw.

"Not that I can tell." Sakura looked around. "What's the big deal anyway, just ignore them." I sighed. She was right. It was a bit childish to be so concerned over them. It's not like I was one of them or anything.

"You're right, let's go then. I have some tamagoyaki that needs eating." I looked down in excitement at my lunch box. I'd spent at least a half hour carefully preparing my lunch this morning. Sakura, Tenten, Hinata, Ino and I went upstairs and walked onto the roof, sitting not too far from the door.

"So are we doing anything after school today?" Ino looked at Sakura. I started to unwrap my lunch box carefully, letting the anticipation build.

"If you want to, we can. I don't have any work that I need to do." Everyone else nodded silently. "I heard there's a new restaurant opening up at the mall; that sounds like fun." I started eating my rice, saving the best part for last. I heard footsteps behind me and the door opened.

"You think they saw us, hm?" I continued eating.

"Probably not." Two guys walked by us, heading for the other side of the roof and I shot them a glare. I recognized them. One had long blonde hair held partially back in a ponytail, and the other had shaggy red hair. I quickly rolled my eyes and turned back to my lunch. Tenten took notice of my reaction.

"Just ignore them, dude. You got your eggs, that's all that matters." Maybe I was being irrational, they can't be _that_ bad. I breathed deeply. They just seemed so self-righteous, like actual celebrities. I heard pounding feet behind us as more people came up the stairs. The door was thrown open and several girls went running by, not noticing our presence. The last one out clumsily tripped over her own feet and kicked my lunch box by accident, not stopping to apologize.

"My eggs!" I started screaming at my delicious lunch scattered across the concrete. I threw my hands out in front of me. I swear, I'm going to wring their necks. I started to roll up the sleeves of my cardigan and stood up before Ino yanked me back down. "No! This is _their_ fault!" I motioned over to the two guys sitting down. "I am giving them a piece of my mind. Look at those wasted eggs!" I pointed angrily towards my ruined lunch.

"Calm down Aki. Beating someone up isn't going to solve anything." Sakura lectured. "Here, just have some of my lunch, I made too much and I'm on a diet anyway."

"Thanks, but I'm alright. I'm too angry to eat. What the hell makes them so great anyway, huh?" I crossed my arms and pouted. Ino sat there and seemed deep in thought.

"I don't know, maybe because they're rich, or they're-" Tenten started.

"Stop. I got it." Ino turned to me, wide eyed.

"You finally figure out where their power comes from? Please, enlighten me." I said rudely. I wasn't in the mood for joking around now.

"No-no-no, hear me out. That's a great question right? What makes them so great? Why does everyone like them, right? They're like _idols_, right?"

"Uh, yeah pretty sure we all know that, get on with it."

"Don't you think that all of those girls over there," she motioned towards the group who were still vying for the guys' attention, "would love to know more about them?"

"Yeah, I guess, what are you getting at?" At first I was confused, but the more I thought about it, the more she was right. They might have been school celebrities, but I don't think people knew much about them. They said just enough to get the girls off their backs, and skillfully managed to avoid every personal question I've heard thrown in their direction. I tried to pay attention to the rumors scattering around, hoping to find any usable information for my blog, but I heard surprisingly little about them besides how 'unattainable' they were.

"Why don't you blog about it? The number of girls reading would shoot through the roof! All those girls there, and all the ones at the entrance this morning, and just think of all the ones who are too shy to openly stalk them. That's like ten thousand!" I raised an eyebrow at her exaggeration. I suppose it would bring me a lot of readers, even the girls who weren't obsessed with them would probably read it anyway, out of curiosity.

"Ino, I'm not so sure that's a-" Tenten seemed hesitant.

"No. It's a brilliant idea." I reached over and wrapped my arms around Ino nearly squeezing the life out of her.

"I don't know Aki, it sounds like a lot of work, I mean, all of those girls have been trying for so long, and haven't gotten anywhere." Tenten continued.

"I'm gonna do it. This is a challenge." I said.

"Ino! Look what you've started!" Sakura smacked her on the back. "Now she'll never give up!" Ino laughed.

"I-I don't think that's a good idea..." Hinata said quietly. I stopped my triumphant yelling and looked back at her.

"It's okay, I got this, believe in me." I looked over at the group of girls that were starting to dissipate after having left their gifts. I crossed my arms in firm resolve. "I'll be damned if I can't weasel my way in and get some kind of juicy gossip."

* * *

**Good evening, I have a super special update for you, but we're gonna save that for last!**

**Now on with school news.**

**Due to a certain knucklehead fooling around on the stage, the theater club's production of _Hamlet _had suffered a few minor setbacks. Anyone looking for extra-curricular activities is encouraged to volunteer with the drama club. Also, don't forget the sports festival is just around the corner! I've been urged by too many of my friends to remind you all to participate and show school spirit.**

**The following clubs are accepting new members, please see the appropriate representative if you're interested:**

**Art Club**  
**Calligraphy Club**  
**Photography Club**  
**Kendo Club**

**Science Club**

**And, last, but not least!**

**After careful consideration, and a few suggestions from some of my friends, I want to hear what questions you have about the mysterious and elusive 'Akatsuki'. As Konoha Gakuen's closet thing to celebrities, I see this as an excellent opportunity to provide you guys with an inside scoop. Let me know what you think, and I'll see what kind of research I can manage.**

**Alright! That about sums it up. Thanks for tuning in to tonight's post, and I'll see all of you lovely readers tomorrow. Remember, have a good night and don't study too hard!**

**Hugs and kisses, Ranjo**

I firmly clicked the post button, absolutely certain about my decision to stalk school celebrities for readers. It sounds desperate when said so bluntly. I eyed a small, worn, black leather note book sitting on my desk. I can turn this into my databook. I took it and threw it into my school bag. I crawled into my bed, stifling a yawn. Let's see what tomorrow holds.


	2. Whiny

**Author's Note: Alright, here's chapter 2. I updated my summary, so hopefully it's a bit better now.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Usually I try to come up with a creative disclaimer, but, I'm just not feeling it today.**

* * *

"Ino!" I yelled into my cellphone. "Where are you?" I was aggravated. This was the second time this week that she was late. "If you're not here on time, I'm taking the train without you." I ended the voice mail and slammed my phone shut. I can't believe I still trust her when she says she won't be late. Every single morning...

"I'm here. I'm here!" I whipped my head around. Ino was disheveled looking and out of breath as she jogged over to me. "Sorry, I was checking up on your blog this morning and I got distracted. You should check it out." I pulled my cell phone out of my bag and navigated to my blog. She was right, there was a good reason to check it out.

There were several comments of encouragement, more than the usual amount for a week night post. Several posts were demanding information on Itachi Uchiha.

"See! I knew this was a good idea." Ino patted me on the back. I stood there, dumbstruck for a moment.

"...Which one is Itachi again?" I could tell it was on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out what he looked like.

"He's the one with the long black hair and glasses, you know Sasuke's brother? Kind of dreamy—no, my heart belongs to Sasuke." She dramatically rested a hand on her chest, as if she was really resisting the pull of Sasuke's older brother. I pulled out my databook and wrote down a few things. Ino interrupted her day dreaming session and returned back to reality just as the train pulled up in front of us.

"Of course he's Sasuke's brother." I whispered to my self. I should have figured that one out, seeing as Sasuke was the class heartthrob. We walked onto the train, and took our usual seats in the back. "Uh, what kind of stuff do they want me to find out? Their blood type? Girls are still into blood type compatibility right?" I flipped through my notebook and started writing down what I currently knew about them.

"Well, that's a start, but I don't know how you're going to get that information." I rocked my head back and forth, pondering possibilities.

"That's too hard, I can't break into the nurses office for their files. That's definitely illegal, right?"

"Pretty sure..."

"Dammit." I spent the rest of the commute thinking about easy information to gather. I can't exactly saunter up to them and a start grilling them on their blood type or if they're a boxer or briefs kind of guy. The train pulled up to the station. After squeezing through everyone to get off, Ino and I made our way towards the school, and stood outside the front gate. I squinted at the morning sun and stared at the crowd of girls. Ino nudged me.

"You're observant right? Let's stay and see if you can figure something out." I looked at Ino, raising an eyebrow.

"What the hell am I going to figure out just by looking at them?"

"I don't know genius, I'm not the observant one." I rolled my eyes and leaned up against the concrete support pillar of the gate. A black car drove by and pulled into the student parking lot. When I squinted I could see Sasuke step out from the passenger side of the car with the biggest scowl I'd ever seen on a human. He leaned up against the car and flicked his thumb across the screen of his phone. Itachi stepped out from the driver's side, and I could feel the anticipation in the atmosphere start to rise. If I could just figure out a way to harvest all of this energy...

"If only senpai would notice me..." I heard someone whisper near me. I watched as Itachi walked the short distance down the side walk and up to the gate, looking about as fed up with the crowd of girls as I was fed up with pushing through them every morning. I almost feel bad for him, but not quite. With great fame, comes great fan girls...or something like that. Sasuke remained exactly where he was, leaned up against the car. I wiggled my way around the crowd until I was at a spot where I knew I'd be able to see. Heads bobbed in an out of my few as Itachi walked by, keeping his attention on his phone. I took a quick glance at his phone and could tell he was just staring at the home screen to look occupied. I grabbed Ino's wrist and meandered a way out of the crowd and through the gate, keeping my distance from Itachi and his ravenous pack of groupies. I looked briefly back at the parking lot. Sasuke was making his way towards the school with Naruto on his right. I don't blame him for waiting. Ino and I walked up to our classroom and settled into our seats. Tenten was looking intently out the window before she turned toward me.

"I see you stuck around with the crowd. You learn anything?" Tenten said, trying to hide her curiosity behind a smirk.

"Well...no." I sighed, already feeling a bit exhausted, and slumped further into my seat. Class went by as dreadfully dull as it normally did. I spent most of the class looking around Tenten's hair and out the window. Eventually, the lunch bell rang.

"You want to eat on the roof again?" Sakura turned towards me, packing up her school supplies to bring them up with her.

"Sorry, I think I'm going to work on gathering information." I smirked and winked at her. "Actually, would you be able to lend me your phone? Just for lunch, and I'll give you my laptop as collateral." She hesitated before handing it over to me, it was a basic pink candy bar phone with too many charms. I passed her my laptop in its case.

"I'm trusting you." She furrowed her brow. I grabbed it excitedly and ran out of the classroom quickly, nearly tripping as I made my way down the stairs and out to the court yard. The weather was nice, and there were bound to be some of _them _eating outside. I dialed Sakura's number into my phone, and picked up the call, effectively making a two way radio. I muted my end of the call, all I would need is for them to hear an echo of themselves, whoever shows up. I crouched behind a bush underneath a tree, watching the droves of students making their way out to the courtyard. I inched further into the leaves and kept a careful eye until I caught my target.

Bingo.

"I respect your opinion. Really, I do. It's just that it's crap. Doesn't art get boring if it's just always there. Where's the excitement, yeah?"

"I am not arguing with you Deidara, let's just eat and get back. I don't want to keep anyone waiting. You know how Kakuzu is with poker."

"You and your impatience." It was the two from yesterday. I looked around, scanning for anyone else more interesting, perhaps Itachi, but I didn't catch anything. The two sat on the ground, under a tree and started eating whatever they had packed. Unlike yesterday, they were mostly left alone. Occasionally a girl walked by trying to nonchalantly stare at them. They picked up on it real fast, and didn't seem the least bit amused. I stood up from my bush and walked behind the the tree they were sitting at, dropping Sakura's cell phone next to them. I returned to the safety of my bush and peaked through the leaves.

"One lunch outside with privacy would be great." Deidara, clearly grumpy.

"There's no use wasting time over trying to change it, that's just how it's going to be."

"Whatever, hm. It's pretty rude if you ask me." Whiny. They continued to hold aimless conversation, mostly stuff I couldn't use. I sat huddled with my notebook in my hand, pen in the other, listening carefully. They had another conversation about art. Seems to be a hobby of both of them. I took careful notes. Deidara complained about people I assumed they were friends with. He also complained more about the girls. Deidara, enjoys whining, complaining. How anyone could be obsessed with him is beyond me. Seems like he just has a permanent bad attitude. "Say, Sasori, you want to stop by the shop after school?" Sasori hm... I took down his name.

"No, I'm all set today. I don't burn through supplies like you do." I could see the annoyance on Deidara face while Sasori smirked in response. Another girl walked by, short spiky black hair, holding a small cloth bag tied with a ribbon.

"E-excuse me, Deidara-senpai, I-I made these for you. I hope you like them." She held out the bag, and squinted her eyes shut, expecting rejection. Sasori elbowed him, and he slapped on a slight, artificial smile.

"Thanks, Aya." He sounded unconvincing. He took the bag, albeit gentler than I would have imagined, and set it in his lap. Aya gasped and ran off to her group of friends and started whispering with a huge grin on her face. I never really understood how girls get crushes on people they hardly know.

"You finally remembered her name." Sasori said, matter-of-fact.

"It's not like she doesn't bring me something everyday." He sighed deeply, searching through the ribbon tied bag ."Green tea cookies? Well I guess that's not so bad..." I heard the rustle of the leaves above them as they sat silently. Deidara offered a cookie to Sasori, who in response shook his head. After a few minutes the two of them gathered their stuff and started to head back inside, Deidara still munching on the remaining cookies.

"Aki, what are you doing?" I gasped in surprise and lost my balance, falling onto my butt. I whipped my head around and Tenten was standing behind me, looking confused. She eyed the notebook in my hand, now a whole page full. "Never mind." She put two and two together and held out a hand to help me up. "You know, I had a bad idea about this at first, but I think this might actually work. Ino showed me all the comments you got, you even got another one this past lunch period." I felt the excitement rising within me.

"Not only that, but I got some good information I can share on Sasori and the whiny one."

"The 'whiny one' is Deidara you know."

"Oh, I know, I just think he's whiny." Tenten laughed.

"Well, I wouldn't know, it's not like I spend my lunch _stalking them_. Either way, if you hurry up, you'll have time to eat your lunch."

"Mmm. Tamagoyaki." I imagined the savory taste of eggs in my mouth and dashed over to grab Sakura's phone. Lunch time!

* * *

**Good evening loves!**

**Given the responses I got from last nights post, I went ahead with the idea of gathering information. I don't have too much for you today, but that should start to change as soon as I set up a schedule.**

**Deidara: Likes art, hates rice pilaf, and doesn't mind green tea cookies.**

**Sasori: Likes art as well, lives with his grandmother.**

**Itachi: Enjoys traditional cafes.**

**On to the school news!**

**According to rumors, room 313 is inhabited by the ghost of a girl who was bullied so severely, she committed suicide. I have yet to find sources that any such thing happened, but I will keep you informed as the details unfold. I have yet to launch a full investigation, but will, hopefully in the coming months if rumors don't quell.**

**I'll be back tomorrow with some more information.**

**Hugs and kisses,**

**Ranjo**


	3. Mr Piano Hands

**Author's Note: It is technically Monday, so I'm uploading when I intended to! Just a bit late is all... Truth be told I'm starting a bit of a cold. Anyways, I hope you like this chapter. I appreciate reviews, but I appreciate suggestions and polite criticisms even better :) Let me know what you think!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or Pizza Hut, that that that's relevant.**

**P.S. Shout out to the review I have so far. I love you guys!**

* * *

**HaruHaru16: Yo, thanks for all the information you've been handing out to us. It's totally come in handy. Seriously, keep it up!**

**UmePushy: Come on! I need more! I told all of my girlfriends about you, so don't hesitate to post some more!**

**100011101010: Hi! I want to share a secret with you. I've been making 5000 a week, at home! If you want to learn my tricks, just visit /, you won't regret it!**

**Ranjo: Seriously, don't click that link, I don't know what's up with the spam all of a sudden, I'm working on a solution...**

**100011101010: Hi! I want to share a secret with you. I've been making 5000 a week, at home! If you want to learn my tricks, just visit /, you won't regret it!**

**Ranjo: Where's the damn spam filter on here?**

* * *

I spent the last few days using my lunch periods to gather information, but as time went on, it just got more and more redundant. It's quickly becoming clear that I need to launch my full scale assault.

"So, how's the investigation going?" Ino and I were waiting for the train as usual.

"It's coming to a standstill. Somehow, I'm going to have to get their attention and just open up a back door into their group. You think infecting their computers with a virus is illegal?"

"Pretty sure..."

"Dammit." I shook my head for a second. "Deja vu..." Ino laughed.

"You could see if any of you have anything in common?" I pulled a notebook out of my bag and flipped it open "Is that...?"

"It's my 'Akatsuki Databook'. That sounds way worse when I say it out loud. If anyone gets a hold of this, they're going to think I'm absolutely crazy."

"You think?" Ino laughed. "Okay, okay, do you have anything in common?" I flipped through the pages, scanning my notes, some pages emptier than others.

"Zetsu, no. Hidan, definitely no. Kakuzu, absolutely not. Sasori, no. Kisame, we both like fish? I suppose that doesn't really count. Tobi, probably not. Itachi, no, and I don't even know enough about him to be sure. Hell, what connects them to each other?" Ino was holding up six fingers.

"You're missing three."

"No. I'm missing two." I lifted up one of her fingers. "I don't have anything in common with the whiny one." She laughed.

"Alright, you're missing two. I think the two that you're missing graduated last year anyway."

"Maybe I could just...talk to them?"

"You think that's gonna work? I'm pretty sure almost every girl in the school has tried that. They're a class above us, so you're not just going to bump into them."

"Hey, it's worth a shot." I was uncharacteristically optimistic today. I crossed my arms. "A girl can dream, can't she?" I smirked at her.

"Yeah, you and like half of all the other girls." She playfully shoved me. "Oh, the train's coming, come on let's go." We took the train into the city, and finished our commute to school. I waited by the gate with the group of girls. I'm determined to get in.

"I'll meet you upstairs."

"You're really gonna do this, aren't you?"

"Hell yeah. I've got luck on my side today. Tenten said my fortune was 'best luck'. I'm feeling extra confident." I pumped my fist into the air in excitement.

"Alright, well, I'll be in class waiting to console you." She stuck out her tongue and walked away. I don't care if it takes me fifteen tries, I'm going to do it. I walked towards the school and waited at the main entrance, maybe if I accidentally bump into them I can start a conversation. A car pulled up and Itachi was the first one out as always. I gathered my book bag and walked outside, pretending to sort through it, looking for something. In my peripheral vision I could see him approaching. I tilted my head deeper into my bag right before the point of impact, making sure to look worried. I felt a thud and dropped my bag, as if on cue.

"Oh, sorry about that." I did my best to look genuine. I lifted my gaze and Itachi was looking at me, a bit blank. He started to open his mouth slightly, but was interrupted. One of the girls trailing him leaned down and whispered in my ear.

"Yeah you better be sorry about that." There was malice in her voice as she glared at me.

"Why I aught to..." I pushed up the sleeve of my cardigan and held up a fist The group continued to walk forward as I knelt on the ground gathering my things. Attempt number one, fail.

* * *

"Come on, we're going to be late for gym." Ino was tugging on my arm when I looked down the hallway and saw Hidan walk down.

"Hold on, wait. I did my research on this one." I waited by the wall with Ino and plastered a fake 'neighborly smile' on my face and waited for him to pass by.

"Hi, do you have time to talk about our lord and savior Ja-"

"Fuck off, I'm not interested." Dammit. He continued by, without so much as glancing at me. Ino held back a laugh.

"Yeah, you definitely did your research on that one."

"Asshole." I groaned and rolled my eyes. "Come on, let's go." The two of us made our way to gym. Attempt number four, fail.

* * *

Tenten and I walked out of our classroom, finally finished cleaning. I flipped through my data book, looking at all of the people I have attempted to get to know, each one ending in failure.

"Seriously Aki, aren't you getting bored with this?" Tenten sounded concerned. "Just start knocking heads in for information, that'll get people to talk." She laughed.

"No, never, this is a challenge, and I will complete it." I flipped some more through my book. Each page had either a really blurry picture of them taken with a disposable camera, or a badly drawn approximation of what they looked like. I kept a list of all of their personal information, and a few other notes. It would probably be in my best interest to keep it somewhere safe, it's starting to get a little too bogged with information. "Oh look! This is my chance."

"Whatever, just let me know when you're done." She walked out of sight. Zetsu was walking down the hall, and I held out a piece of paper, and waved him down.

"Uh, excuse me, I hate to bother you, but do you think you could answer a question for me?" He slowed down, but I didn't give him the opportunity to tell me no. "I have an extra credit question for biology, and was hoping you could help. How can you recognize a sassafras tree in the wild?"

"Should we answer her? It's a pretty basic question." He spoke in a clear voice

"I don't know, do you want to?" He spoke again, but this time in a much more harsh, gravely voice.

"I suppose we could."

"It has three different leaves, unlobed oval, bilobed, and trilobed." He walked away, and I stood there dumbfounded. Did I just have a conversation with three people? Attempt number fourteen, fail, I think.

* * *

"I can't take this anymore! I've tried everything this past week, and I haven't gotten anywhere!" I leaned back in my seat, and slammed my textbook shut. "At this rate, I'm not going to find out anything new, and I can't keep this up, or they're going to be onto me." I ran my fingers through my hair.

"Just let it happen naturally, join a club or something, you said yourself that the art club was accepting new members, and aren't two of those guys into art? You're bound to run into one of them that way." Sakura did her best to offer advice. I groaned, my stress still rising. I'm running out of information to post online, if I don't get somewhere soon, I'm going to lose my readers.

"I don't feel like joining a club! I have things that I need to do at home!" It was a poor excuse, really, I just wanted to be able to nap.

"Well, isn't that your fault then?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Whatever, I need a break. I'm just gonna head over to the music room and relax for a bit, I'll talk to you guys later." I shoved my book into my bag and walked out of the class and to the music room. Music club didn't meet on Fridays so hopefully I can snag the piano. I walked down the empty hallway, most of the students had gone home by now. I went down the stairs, down another hallway, and turned into room 113. The room was empty and the lights were off. The club's instruments were neatly packed into the closet, and the upright piano was pushed up against the wall. I threw my bag on the floor and pulled out the bench, resting my fingers on the keys and inhaling deeply. There had been sheet music left behind that I recognized, and I started playing.

I didn't have the long graceful fingers or the melodic movement that most players had, but I wasn't bad I suppose. I could pull my own weight in music club, I think. This blog is taking up a lot of time though, and I still have my afternoon nap. It just wouldn't work. My fingers moved across the keys, distracted. I missed some notes, and accidentally skipped an entire line.

"You're playing too fast, that's why you're messing up." I didn't come here to have an underclassmen from the music club come and sass me out on my playing. I stopped playing and dropped my head in frustration.

"Oh yeah, well if you're so great then come over here and play it Mr. Piano Hands." I heard footsteps behind me and I stood up from the bench, grabbing my bag and turning around.

Oh shit.

I smacked myself in the head as I watched Itachi sit down at the bench. My one chance and I come off like a pretentious bitch, I spend an _entire week_ and then it just falls out of the damn sky? Just my luck. He started playing and it put me to shame. He has those graceful movements that most amateurs drool over. Meanwhile, I looked like a troll having a temper tantrum. Ugh. This is embarrassing. I rested my head in my hands while leaning up against the shelf, waiting for him to finish so I could scrape up what little dignity I had left and just go back to class. His playing tapered off, and he sat there silently for a few moments with the slightest hint of a smirk on his face before gathering his things and leaving as abruptly as when he showed up. I stood off to the side, and stared at him as he walked out, not saying a single word.

He shows me up, and then leaves without saying _anything_? And people _like _him? I'm starting to think that this challenge isn't worth the effort anymore. I walked over to the piano, dropped the key cover loudly and stomped out of the room.

* * *

**Attention Readers,**

**I will no longer be conducting research on the Akatsuki as I think they're a bunch of pretentious, no good, stuck up, snot nosed assholes.**

I stared at my screen. That will certainly draw the readers in. I held down the backspace key until the text box was empty. I can worry about this tomorrow.


	4. Good Morning

**Author's Note: Ugh, I totally apologize for the late update, I got crazy sick Sunday night :( Anyway, next update will still be on Monday. As always, reviews, suggestions, and critiques are always welcome!**

**Disclaimer: I really don't feel like doing one this chapter, check the last one.**

* * *

"You did what?" Ino grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me. "What made you think that would be a good idea? Like, seriously, out of all the people you could have mouthed off to, it had to be him?"

"I didn't know it was him! I thought it was some first year!" I shouted back at her and knocked her hands off my shoulders. He just shouldn't have sassed me out. It's not like I asked for his opinion anyway, so you know what? I don't care.

"How are you going to fix this now?" She put her hand on her hips and stared at me, looking almost disappointed. I don't have a twin sister, so I can't blame it on her.

"You know, I won't. I'll just find someone else to talk to." I crossed my arms in defiance and pouted. "If he's all offended than so be it."

"Oh stop being so pig-headed Aki."I rolled my eyes. "You know, you just shouldn't have freaked out." She smacked me on the back and turned to face the entrance. "To be honest, he probably won't even remember it after a couple of weeks."

"I can't wait that long anyway, I'll just have to start looking elsewhere." I whipped my head around, finally realizing where we were. "What am I even doing here? Just because I don't care, doesn't mean he won't." I looked and saw Itachi making his way down the side walk. "I am not dealing with confrontation this morning, especially with his groupies. They'd probably scalp me if given the chance."

"Then let's go inside. You're the one just standing there." We walked up the stairs and I tripped dropping the contents of my bag. I gathered them up and stuff them back in as quickly as I could before grabbing the door and holding it open for Ino. She walked by and turned around to look at me. I leaned up against the door, and stared at her as she started making weird faces and confusing hand signals.

"Are you smoking something?" I said bitterly. She froze in her spot and started pointing at me.

"Akihana-" Ino stopped abruptly and stared, her mouth slightly ajar. I felt the weight of the door move off my shoulder and I turned around, looking up.

"Good morning." My jaw dropped just slightly. Itachi was standing behind me holding the door, and behind him were his fan girls, whispering loudly to each other.

"Oh, uh, good morning." I barely managed to squeeze out. I stared back for a few moments before scuttering off to Ino like a scared puppy. I looked over my shoulder as Itachi held the door open for the girls behind him. Ino grabbed me and yanked me in closer before whispering loudly in my ear.

"What the hell was that?"

"Does it look like I have any clue?" We walked quickly up to our class room. "Well at least I wasn't scalped, but he didn't look all that pissed off."

"Who knows, he's pretty stoic anway." She shoved me lightly. We climbed up the stairs and turned down the hall to our classroom.

"Ugh," I mussed up my hair with both hands in confusion. "You know, maybe he really isn't pissed off.

"You gave him more attitude than the last place contestant at a drag show. I don't understand how he _wouldn't _be pissed off."

"I don't know, maybe he took it as a compliment?"

"Alright, sure. While you're at it, tell him I said he's a dick. Maybe it'll get me a date with Sasuke." We walked through the doors, keeping our voices to a quiet whisper as we elbowed each other back and forth and continued to argue. Sakura noticed and walked up to us quickly.

"I don't like that look the two of you have, what's going on?" She said.

"_He_ talked to her." Ino didn't give me a chance to respond.

"What? Which 'he'? How did you manage that?" Sakura was in disbelief.

"Itachi. She gave him major sass after school yesterday, and then called him 'piano hands'."

"What? That doesn't-" I interrupted her and gave her a more detailed explanation of what happened.

"...Then he just left after he was done." I shrugged, still a bit confused.

"I don't understand though, he just said good morning to you, like he knew you? Maybe he thought you were interesting? I'm sure that doesn't happen to him everyday." Sakura said.

"I think. Maybe it was just a weird way of saying 'get out of the way'." I said.

"I doubt that, 'good morning' and 'move bitch' don't really sound the same." Ino laughed. We took our seats and I listened idly to Ino and Sakura gossip. I couldn't help but replay this morning's events. He certainly has a weird interest in people if insulting him caught his attention like that.

* * *

The bell for lunch time rang loudly.

"Hey, I think I'm gonna skip out on lunch today."I looked over at Sakura. Maybe, if I was lucky, and I went to the music room I could catch Itachi on the way there, maybe offer an apology or something. I mean, at least salvage what I can I suppose.

"Alright, well, we'll see you in gym then." Sakura said as she started to unwrap her lunch at her desk. I walked out of the classroom and headed out toward the music room. I walked down the stairs and heard the piano playing softley. The door to the music room was open. I leaned up against the doorway, silently listening. Itachi continued to play for a few moments before abruptly stopping. Had he heard me? I felt a pit grow slightly in my stomach, before forcing it down.

"You can come in." Shit, now I look creepy. I hesitantly walked in, and leaned up against the shelving in the same spot that I had yesterday. Just gotta play it cool. Gotta be suave.

"Do you normally skip lunch to come here?" I asked.

"Well, it's always quiet, but not usually." I nodded stiffly, that was more awkward than I intended.

"Oh, uh, sorry then..." I pushed my self out from the shelving and adjusted my bag, about to leave.

"I don't mind." I leaned back up against the shelf. He's probably just trying to be polite. "Do you normally skip lunch to wander the halls?" He turned his head and looked up at me, resting his hands on his lap.

"Uh, you know, not really, but uh I wanted to say sorry for being snippy yesterday." I said awkwardly while rubbing the back of my head.

"That's alright." The corner of his mouth turned up in the smallest of smirks. "I have to admit, it's not a normal occurrence for an underclassman to insult me." My face flushed and his smirk grew wider. I quickly changed the topic.

"So, why did you learn to play, you're not half bad." Not half bad was a bit of an understatement.

"One learns to occupy themselves when their parents are always busy." He said with slight disdain. I cringed, sensitive topic I see. He straightened out and his face softened. "You?" I hesitated before answering. I couldn't imagine he was actually interested.

"Uh, my aunt taught me when I moved in with her. She uses it as a stress reliever and I guess it's rubbed off on me." He sat there, thinking for a moment.

"I suppose the piano is relaxing." He started playing again while I listened. It was a comfortable half-silence. I focused on the music that was playing, and quickly lost track of time. I only looked up at the clock when he stopped playing. There was only five minutes until classes resumed. He stood up from the bench and gathered his things before turning back towards me.

"It was nice meeting you, Akihana." He gave me a small nod.

"Thanks, you too, Itachi." Wow, first name basis already. That was fast. I'm not going to mention today's meeting on the blog post tonight. It would be rather unfortunate to come in tomorrow and see a gaggle of girls waiting around for him.

* * *

I climbed up the stairs to our second floor apartment. The sun was setting and cast a gold glow across the stone steps. I pushed the door opened and walked into the entrance way, slipping my shoes off. I threw my bag against the wall and walked out into the living room.

"Rui?" I walked into the apartment and called out for my aunt. Pans clattered in the kitchen.

"I'm in the kitchen!" She yelled. I cringed at the sound of glass shattering. "Oops." It was silent for a few moments. "Hey Aki, how about take out for supper?" I sighed. I walked into the kitchen. My aunt was squeezing a paper towel around her finger while shards of glass glittered on the floor. I hopped to the other side of the kitchen and started cleaning it up. "God, what would I do without you?" She said dramatically.

"Sometimes, I wonder which one of us should be running the house." I laughed. The kitchen was a mess, as it always seemed to be when ever my aunt tried to cook something more complicated than rice. "Hey, I'll trade spots with you. I miss high school!" I looked up from my crouched position on the floor and she smirked at me. It hasn't been that long since she's been out of school either.

"It hasn't been that long since you've graduated! You're only 26!" What is she complaining about?

"Hey, that's long enough." I rolled my eyes and smirked.

"Yeah, and how do you think my mom feels?" I crossed my arms.

"Yeah well..." There's a big age difference between my aunt Rui and my mom. She interrupted her self, trying to change the subject. "Okay Aki, I'll make you a deal. You make some supper, and I'll finish my work that's due tomorrow." She ran into the piano room before waiting for my answer. She writes jingles for commercials and was excellent at putting off projects until their deadlines.

"Oh come on, that's a rotten deal!" I shouted towards her. She started playing and drowned me out. Well, I hope she likes instant ramen.

* * *

**Good evening ladies/guys/non-binary peoples,**

**Again, do not forget about the sports festival. We will be starting preparations next week. I hope you all have been training hard!**

**The women's restrooms on the second floor are out of order...again. Please keep this in mind when planning any mid-class gossip breaks.**

**The role of Ophelia in the school production of **_**Hamlet **_**has been filled. The performance will conclude this year's sports festival. For the culture festival, it has been announced that they will be performing **_**Romeo and Juliet.**_** This may be subject to change.**

**Unfortunately, I don't have any new information to post tonight.**

**Goodnight,**

**Ranjo**


	5. Tandem On A Bicycle? Lame!

**Author's Note: Ugh, I can't upload on time, cause I'm sick, and then yesterday my internet completely cuts out, so sorry this is a bit late, anyway, enjoy. Also, as I continue writing, I feel like my story is missing 'zing', especially compared the the other one I've written. It's a hard feeling to describe really, but if you understand what I'm saying, and you have some advice, please please please feel free to share it. It would be greatly appreciated, as would critiques and reviews, thanks!**

**Disclaimer: I solemnly swear that**—**Shit, wrong one. *ahem* Naruto is not my intellectual property, blah blah blah, so on and so forth. ONWARDS WITH THE STORY.**

* * *

I rolled off my bed and into the floor and groaned loudly. "I don't want to go." I whined. I turned my head and saw my laptop sitting under my bed. I pulled it towards me and opened up the wasn't much for traffic on my blog, same as it was yesterday. I struggled to push my self up and onto my knees. I knelt on the floor and look around my room, shaking off my sleep-drunkenness. I took a shower and changed into my uniform. Rui was in the kitchen sitting at the table and scribbling on some blank ledger lines.

"I thought you were supposed to finish that project while I was making supper last night?" I cocked an eyebrow.

"Yeah, well, Starforce Wonder Brigade came on and-" I interrupted her.

"Wait, you didn't tell me? Come on! You know that's my favorite show!" She looked at me quizzically.

"You mean you're not going to sass me?"

"Hey, as long as the rent is paid, I don't care. Was it a rerun?"

"Yeah, you didn't miss anything, don't worry." I sighed deeply and walked over to the fridge and grabbed the lunch I had prepared for my self the night before. I made some toast and then sat down across from her. "So, hows your blog going?" Rui knew a little bit about my blog, but certainly not that I was stalking people just for something to post.

"It's not too bad I suppose." I shrugged. There really wasn't much to say. I finished stuffing my toast into my face before running out of our apartment and down the stairs. I walked briskly down the street and to the bus station to meet up with Ino. It was a few minutes before she arrived. I looked over at her "You know, this week has been a whole lot of nothing. Even though I've skipped out on lunch to talk to Itachi, I've barely learned anything. I don't feel like I'm getting any further than small talk." I slouched against the concrete pole of the train station.

"Well, that doesn't surprise me to be honest." Ino shrugged. "You're not exactly, how put it nicely, _interesting._"

"Wow, you're a bitch." I laughed and gave her a smirk.

"You know it." She laughed. "Seriously though, this was bound to happen." I sighed.

"Yeah, you're probably right. The day hasn't even begun and I'm already looking forward to lunch. Hopefully it comes quick." Unfortunately that was not the case, class dragged on as slowly as ever.

* * *

"Finally! Lunch time!" I stood up from my desk and stretched my arms high above my head and yawned.

"Are you going to the music room today?" Sakura said, without looking up from her textbook. Even during lunch she was studying.

"Nope. I'm going outside, I have had enough with this! I'm going to plant my rear down and stuff my face."

"Wait, are you giving up?" Sakura looked at me, surprised.

"No, of course not. I just need a break." The concern dropped from her face, and she turned back towards her textbook. It was fairly out of character for me to give up on something and willingly admit defeat. I stretched even further and yawned once more. Tenten and Ino had already left, and Hinata was reading a book. I grabbed my lunch, and left the classroom. I walked down the stairs to the first floor and out of the side entrance. I found a nice shady spot underneath an oak tree and sat down, leaning against the trunk. I watched as some students used their lunch period to practice for the sports festival.

"Would you mind if I joined you?" My heart skipped a beat and I looked up. Itachi was standing there, looking at the students on the track field.

"Go for it." He quietly sat down. "You're not in the music room?" I was surprised to be honest, considering that's where he's been every day this week.

"The music club is practicing the folk dance for the sports festival, so it's fairly loud. I'm surprised you didn't notice."

"I wasn't feeling up to adventuring in the halls today, especially considering I brought extra lunch." I started to unwrap my lunch box and eat quickly, while still trying to appear somewhat graceful.

"Ah, I see." We sat in silence, but not awkward silence. Something about quietness with him wasn't uncomfortable or weird feeling, as I've learned over the past week. I watched a girl walk by and eye me. Whether it was in curiosity or animosity was beyond me. She looked back to the cellphone in her hand and tapped away at the screen quickly before putting it in her bag.

"Are you participating in the sports festival this year?" It was probably a stupid question, he didn't seem like much of the 'school spirit' type.

"I'm not doing any events, but I helped organize some of them." That doesn't surprise me. "And you?" I finished the bite of food I had in my mouth.

"Tenten and I are doing the three-legged race. We won last year, so we're hoping to make it a streak." I didn't want to sound like I was bragging, but I was bragging. "You should come watch." I grimaced slightly at the suggestion. He probably had better things to do than to watch me trip over my own feet.

"If I have the time, I will." I hope he wasn't just blowing me off because he wanted to be polite. He was hard to read. It had fallen silent again, save for the shouts coming from the track field ahead and the occasional small talk. After a while I had finished my lunch.

"Well," I stood up, gathering my things, "thanks for keeping me company while I ate." I smoothed down my skirt. He continued to look at the field.

"No need to thank me."

"I'll see you around then." He nodded. I walked off back toward the school, leaving Itachi sitting under the tree. I made my way across the grounds, and then into the school. I pulled out my data book and wrote down a few more notes. I certainly wouldn't consider Itachi and I friends, but I suppose I was a bit closer to him than any of the others. I flipped through the pages. I've tried to talk to everyone in here except for one. _Him. _I muttered curse words under my breath. Maybe I was being over dramatic, but I really had no desire to talk to _that one_. My impression of him over the last week hasn't improved in the slightest.

I stared down at the miniscule information I had on Deidara. I puffed my chest out and put my arms on my hips. I can do this!. I looked under what I had written for interests. Going by this, he's probably in the art room. I closed my book and slipped it deep into my bag. Now's as good a time as any. I breathed deeply and walked inside the school, making my way to the stairs and climbing up to the third floor. I shuffled nervously down the hallway, planning out my strategy. From what I've observed, being cute and sweet won't get me anywhere. To be honest, I don't think cute and sweet would work with _any_ of the Akatuski, seeing as that's their fan girls' main approach. I don't think cute and sweet work with anyone in general now that I think about it. I stood in the doorway of the art room, and like I suspected, he was sitting at a desk, staring at a lump of clay. I waited a few moments before opening my mouth to speak.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer, yeah." My eyebrows knitted together. Why I ought to...

"If I wanted something good to look at, I'd just look in the mirror." I spat. Oh that was smooth. I did a subtle fist pump before Deidara looked up at me, small smirk on his face. He seemed impressed by my audacity.

"That wasn't half bad, hm." He looked back down. I hesitantly walked up to the desk he was sitting at. He somehow felt _volatile_. It would be wise to choose my words carefully. I sat on the desk next to him and pointed down at the lump of clay.

"You got any plans for that?" I asked flatly, lazily pointing at the ball.

"You think I'd just sit here staring at it? Of course I have plans, hm." Someone's a bit grouchy.

"No need to be so snippy." I was having difficulty telling if this was his regular attitude or if he was just in a bad mood. It seemed to be the latter, given that he was at least tolerable the other times I observed him.

"No one said you needed to talk to me." Oh, jeez, snippy is a bit of an understatement.

"Well, I didn't think you'd be this much of an asshole." I snapped without thinking. I should have thought that through. I grimaced for a moment, it was too late to take the words back, so I decided to let it roll, hoping it sounded natural. I hopped off the desk and spun around, giving a lazy salute."Later dude." I made sure to sound unimpressed. I turned around and walked out of the class. For a few moments I heard shuffling and the screech of a chair on linoleum. I wanted to turn around, but doing that would only make me look less confident. Once I was out of sight, I cringed and leaned against a wall. I slapped my forehead. Well, I made _an _impression, it definitely wasn't the right one. Not like I care much what he thinks about me anyway, massive asshole that he is.

* * *

"Dammit. Dammit. Dammit!" I sprinted down the street from my house, my phone buzzing in my hand. I picked it up. "I know I'm going to be late, just another two minutes and I'll be there, I swear."

"No, you already missed the train."

"What?!" I ran faster down my street, lungs burning. "You're kidding." I paused between each word, catching my breath a bit.

"No, I wish I was." I could tell that Ino was serious. There's no way I'd be able to run to the school in time to make it.

"Gotta go." I forced the words out and hung up my phone shoving it deep into my school bag, clutching it to my side. My damp hair whipped around my face with my bangs glued to my forehead. "No. No. No. No!" I reached the intersection on main street just as the ominous red hand glowed on the crosswalk indicator and traffic passed through. I slung my bag on my shoulder and started thumping my head against the pole. "I'm never going to get there on time." I groaned and heard the purr of a motorbike.

"Hey, you want a ride?" I threw my head back in frustration. Now I'm being cat called, just shoot me. "Yo, Bambi!" I twitched.

"What!?" I screeched. I didn't have the patience to deal with some douche-canoe that tries to pick up school girls. I turned and my vision was instantly drawn to the blonde sitting on the motorbike, with his hand resting on the empty spot behind him. "Oh, uh..." I stared in disbelief. I called him out on his shitty personality yesterday, and now he's offering me a ride? Is that what it takes to get a guy's attention these days? And they say women are complicated.

"Do you want a ride or not, yeah? The light's about to change." I straightened up. There was absolutely no way that I would make it in time if I didn't get a ride.

"Fine." I said flatly and ran over hopping on the back. I've never been on a motorbike, but there's a first for everything, right? I stepped my leg over, trying to keep my skirt down in the process. The light quickly flipped to green and I didn't hesitate to wrap my arms around him. "Pretty sure this is illegal!" I shouted. School rules definitely prohibited this, and neither of us had a helmet. What the hell am I thinking?

"Police don't patrol over here, don't worry!" He shouted over his shoulder as he continued to keep his eyes on the road. I rolled my eyes and shut my mouth. I'm not going to be late, and I'm desperate. We rode through the backstreets of the city and then turned up toward the school. I had never gotten to school this late before, but even so, the crowd of girls were still gathered around the entrance. First staring with anticipation, then slowly shifting into confusion. The consequences of the situation I was in finally made sense to me. Deidara drove the bike to a stop in the school's parking lot.

"Uh, thanks for the ride." You could hear the confusion and hesitation in my voice. He got off and stood there for a moment, looking at me.

"Still think I'm an asshole?" I thought about it for a second. Was this some weird kind of apology? Is he trying to prove wrong or something? He seemed to be in a good mood.

"A bit, yeah." I shrugged and smirked. Thankfully, he didn't take me seriously.

"Wow, I offer you a ride out of the kindness of my heart, and you still think I'm an asshole, yeah?" He pretended to be hurt. "Maybe you're just a bitch." He smirked and we started walking towards the school.

"Oh, that's probably true." Ahead of us I could see the group of girls, while hearing a strained sigh from the blonde standing next to me. "Oh look, that's my cue to leave." I ran ahead and wiggled my way through the crowd, the girls eying me, some curious, other jealous. I made it through the gates and was walking toward the front entrance and I could feel their glares on my back. I heard them start squealing. I walked past the offices and bypassed the first-year hall, heading up to my class on the second floor. I quietly slid the door open and stepped in. Ino looked at me in disbelief.

"Dude, did you sprint the whole way or something? How the hell did you—have you thought about trying out for the Olympics?" She looked at me in shock. "I didn't think you were that athletic, man you put on a good act in gym." She muttered.

"No, I got a ride. There's no way I can run that fast or that far." I walked over to my seat and slouched in my chair.

"Who gave you a ride?"

"Uh, you know, it's kind of a long story, and I would really need to explain it, and-oh look Kakashi-sensei should be here soon. Let's just agree that I flew here on a broom. I can assure you that you'll hear about it later."

"Wait, what?"

"You'll see, trust me."


	6. Shanked?

Author's Note: Hey! I want to take everyone for the kind and helpful reviews so far, I greatly look forward to them every Monday :)

Disclaimer: Own Naruto, I do not. Also, use typical sentence structure, I do not.

* * *

I sat down under the oak tree facing the sports field, Ino and Tenten standing on either side of me. I acted as if I didn't notice the girls staring at me as they walked by.

"Dude, okay, seriously what's up, why are they all staring at you? Did you kill someone?" Ino looked down at me. My phone buzzed in my pocket and I rolled my eyes, pulling it out.

**xSparklesx: Whose that chick that Deidara gave a ride to this morning? I saw her talking to Itachi during lunch once too. What's going on!?**

**2Hot4School: Who was she? I've never seen her before! I don't want to have another rival that I need to beat.**

**Gama14: You must know something about that girl right? I don't think I like her.**

There were a few similar messages lined up on my comments. I hung my head and passed my phone to Ino, who quickly read and then passed it to Tenten.

"_He's _how you got here this morning? How the hell did you manage that?" Another girl walked by, and gave me the stink eye. Ino glared her down and ran her finger across her throat and held up a fist. The girl seemed startled and walked away quickly. Ino looked down at me. "I got your back."

"Gee. Thanks." I ran my fingers through my hair. My phone buzzed again. "What now?" I yelled. It had been going off all morning. I held the power button down until it shut off.

"Really, what happened?" Ino prodded. I patted the spots on either side of me, gesturing for the two of them to sit.

"My alarm clocked stopped working, and Rui didn't check to see if I was up because she spent he entire night trying to meet her deadline for work. Eventually I woke up on my own and I figured I had at least a little bit of time to take a shower. So then I ran to the train station. Then you called and told me I missed it. So I'm running and I get to the intersection on Main Street and the crosswalk turns red. Then Deidara shows up, asking if I want to hop on the back of his bike-"

"You got to school riding tandem on a bicycle? That's still pretty lame." Ino was picking at her nails

"No, shut up, it was a motorbike." I corrected her.

"Oh, that's kind of sexy."

"That's not the point!"

"But you agree?" She smirked.

"Oh would you shut up!" I continued my story. "Anyway, so I'm sitting on the back, no helmet, nothing, cause according to him the police don't patrol around there anyway. So we ride past the school, and everyone stares. Everyone. Almost instantly I started getting posts on my blog asking about _me_. That's not even the weird part either. Yesterday after lunch, I tried talking to him and we started arguing and I ended up calling him an asshole and just leaving. It's like he thought me insulting him was a compliment." Tenten had migrated over to Ino's side and they both stared at me wide-eyed as I laughed hysterically for a few seconds.

"You okay?" Tenten patted me on the back.

"I'm not okay! I don't know what I'm doing!" I pushed myself out from the tree and laid on my back. "I don't want people to know I exist."

"Maybe it was because you didn't act like everyone else and tried to impress him." Tenten added. Ino started talking.

"We could have told you this was going to happen. There's no way you can be friends with any of them without people noticing. It was going to happen sooner or later. Be careful how you handle it. You don't want to make enemies with the wrong crowd" Ino had no pity for me. "Let's just eat, if we're late for gym Guy-sensei is going to go off on another spiel about youth and how we're wasting it." We shoveled our food down our throats and made our way to the gym. I held my bag to my chest as I walked into the locker room, whispers erupting around me. I breathed deeply, ignoring them as I changed into my clothes and walked out into the gym. I spent the whole class standing around, watching girls try and point nonchalantly towards me. Well, I'm ready to go home.

* * *

**Good Evening Ladies**

**It has recently been brought to my attention that an unrecognized female has been spotted hanging around Itachi and Deidara lately. I've asked around, and carefully observed, and this is what I've learned about her.**

**Name: Akihana Ito**

**Class: 2-B**

**Height: 160 cm**

**Other: From what I've gathered, she is not a member of any after school clubs and there is very little information about her. I don't know her connection with the rest of the Akatsuki.**

Hopefully that's enough to get them off my back. I shut the lid on my laptop and slid it under my bed. I pulled the cover up tight around me. The sports festival is tomorrow. I can't say I'm not a tiny bit excited.

* * *

"Are you excited?" I looked over at Tenten as I tied the headband emblazoned with the words 'fighting spirit' across my forehead.

"Hell yeah I'm excited. We're gonna kick some third-year ass!" Tenten tied an identical headband across her forehead.

"You guys are getting way too into this, it's just a sports festival." Ino looked unimpressed and flicked her ponytail off her shoulder.

"Nonsense! Not only is this a great opportunity to kick butt," I lowered my voice, "it's also a great opportunity to get some more information."

"You've been doing this for like the past three weeks, honestly, I thought this was going to be a onetime deal. I can't believe you've stuck with it this long."

"Well you better believe it, I'm not giving up."

"Come on Ino, give her some credit, just imagine if she put this much effort into her homework," Tenten joked.

"Gee, thanks, I see the confidence you guys have in me." The two of them laughed. "Come on Tenten, we're gonna be late for the race. Ino, you better cheer us on."

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry," Ino smirked and walked off in the other direction, probably to find Sakura and Hinata. Tenten and I made out way to the track field where we were given some rope to tie our legs together. I scanned the spectators and quickly found Sakura, Ino, and Hinata. They all gave me an encouraging smile as I waved at them. I looked around some more, and after a while was able to pick Itachi out of the group. I'm surprised he actually showed up. I waved calmly towards him, and he gave a polite nod in return. Tenten and I rested our arms on each others shoulders and walked up to the starting line. There were six other teams competing, two first year teams, two second year teams, and finally two third year teams. Actually, we're missing a third year team.

"Hey Aki, check those two out." I looked over my shoulder. and started snickering.

"I can't believe they suckered me into this stupid thing, yeah." Deidara had his foot tied up with Tobi's and the two of them were struggling to make it to the starting line. I looked around, the only empty spot was directly next to us. I groaned. Great, all we need is for them to trip us.

"Come on Deidara-senpai, it'll be fun!" Tobi was clearly excited. Despite his eagerness, he was still clumsy.

"Let's just get this over with so I can head back. Hidan's going to eat all of my chips." They finally stumbled their way over to the starting line. I could clearly see the annoyance on Deidara's face. I nudged him.

"Hey, don't look so pissed off, your face might freeze like that." I smirked. He scowled even more.

"Yeah yeah, mind your own business, Bambi." Guy-sensei walked to the edge of the track and looked at a stop watch as he held up a bright red starting pistol.

"On your marks, get set." _Bang! _The pistol sounded and Tenten and I took off. We spent every day after school the past week practicing for this race, I'll be damned if we don't win.

"Come on! No, that's not your left dammit!" I heard Deidara arguing with Tobi behind us, and couldn't help but laugh. That's what he gets for whining. Tenten and I just barely managed to inch ahead of the third-year team in front of us before crossing the finish line in first. We did a quick victory dance before sitting down and untying our laces. I watched as Deidara and Tobi crossed the finish line next to us. At least they beat one team. Last place finishers were a pair of first-year girls who were too busy giggling at _short, blonde, and mildly attractive_ over there to even pay attention to what was going on. Not much of an achievement though. I looked at Deidara out of the corner of my eyes as he walked by and stuck my tongue out at him. I was lightly punched on the shoulder. I can just imagine the sour look he has on his face. Tenten and I got up and dusted ourselves off. The play wasn't for several more hours, and I still had 2 more hours to kill before the folk dance. I looked around. Everyone had gone their separate ways.

"I suppose I could go buy some food at one of the carts or something." I said aloud to no one in particular. I patted my pocket, looking for my coin purse. Dammit. I must have left it on my desk. I walked through the track field towards the side entrance of the school. I pulled on the door and walked into the hallway. It was silent, save for the slight murmurs coming from a vacant classroom. It must be a club or something. As I reached the stairs, I hear footsteps coming from my right. I ignored them as I was about to start up the stairs, but was stopped by a sharp yank on the back of my t-shirt.

"Where do you think you're going, _Akihana Ito?_" I whipped my head around. A girl I didn't recognize, probably a third year, was staring down at me, hate in her eyes. She had tightly coiled icy blonde ringlets, fierce blue eyes, and porcelain smooth skin. She rested her hand on her hips and waited for an answer. I swallowed hard, a lump forming in my throat. She definitely wasn't here for a sewing circle. I flashed my eyes left and right, looking to see if there was anyone else around.

"To my classroom?" I replied meekly. I wasn't much of the fighting type, and I was far too frail to take her on, despite the fact that she didn't look very strong herself.

"I don't think so." She wrapped her fingers tightly around my wrist, and yanked me in the direction of a classroom. "You think you can just hog him all to yourself, don't you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" I nearly shouted. My voice squeaked, and I tried to wrestle my arm free from her grip.

"What, you think the whole school doesn't know about your little ride the other day? Or where you spend your lunches?" I looked down and saw a large pair of scissors tucked into the waist band of her skirt. I reflexively reached up to grab my hair. She noticed. "You won't have to worry about that in a little bit." She smirked. I heard a door behind me open and two sets of foot steps. The girl holding my hand froze, and loosened her grip slightly.

"That's enough Amami." I knew I recognized the voice, but in my panicked state, I couldn't remember the face it belonged to. She quickly let go of my wrist and smoothed her skirt awkwardly.

"Oh, I wasn't going to—really I swear-"

"Save it, yeah." I stood there, dumbfounded. She nervously walked off, and out of the building. I shook my head quickly before turning around to face my saviors. Deidara and Itachi were standing there, watching Amami walk out of the door. Itachi eyed my wrist, red where Amami had gripped it tightly.

"Are you okay, Akihana?" I opened my mouth to respond.

"Oh she's fine, yeah."

"I didn't ask you." Itachi didn't even turn towards him. I struggled to find words.

"Uh yeah, I think I'm all set. I was just going to grab my wallet to get something to eat, and then-"

"She showed up, hm."

"I was almost shanked!" I shouted.

"Oh don't be melodramatic, yeah. She wasn't going to shank you."

"Whatever!" I started towards the stairs and only then noticed an open door with Hidan and Sasori standing in it, observing. I turned back towards Itachi, opening my mouth to ask exactly what was happening.

"Akihana, you can join us if you'd like." Itachi said coolly. I pondered my options, I could go into a classroom and hide, or I could wander around looking for my wallet and possibly be shanked. I nodded quickly and followed them into the classroom. The shades were drawn, and a movie I didn't recognize was playing on a white-screen pulled down in front of the chalkboard. I looked to the back and saw Kisame sitting next to a laptop hooked into the projector. He and Tobi were the only ones paying attention. Gathered around a large folding table, Kakuzu was playing what looked to be poker with Hidan and Sasori. Pushed up again the far wall under the windows was a ratty looking couch. What's going on here?

"Bambi, this is uh, the gang, yeah." He briefly named everyone, but it was nothing I didn't already know. I turned my head towards Deidara and watched as he took a seat at the makeshift poker table, picking up his hand. In the center was a small pile of coins. I turned towards Itachi, hoping for some answers. He closed the door, and on the back of it hung a homemade flag, black with a stylized red cloud outlined in white. Itachi took a seat and started reading a book. I stood there awkwardly before taking a seat equidistant from everyone else. I sat there uncomfortably at first, but my attention was quickly caught by the movie, which I will admit, was pretty funny. Itachi looked up from his book while I was mid-giggle.

"You're free to come by when you want. It's fairly full during lunch and after school." I was confused for a moment by the offer. So, that's why he likes the music room. It was definitely loud in here.

"Oh, uh, are you sure?" I imagined he was just trying to be polite.

"Yes. I don't believe anyone else has any concerns about it." Itachi looked around. No one said anything, though Tobi gave me an eager thumbs up. "To be frank, Amami isn't the only one you should be worrying about. The less time you spend wandering about, the better off you'll be." I swallowed hard.

"I guess I can do that then." I sat there awkwardly. It seemed like a fair trade off, a near-shanking for infiltration.


End file.
